I really like the contrast between the decaying plants from the last season and the new growth. Since the the sun is hanging low, but shining brightly, there also is some very nice shadows.

The growth is still in its infancy, but in a couple of weeks everything will explode in green.

[zenphotopress sort=random number=5 album=2]

In order to show the images I installed Zenphoto and zenphotopress. It seems cleaner than coppermine, both to look at and to work with. And at the same time I changed the theme for the blog, and added a widget to show random images from the gallery.

Some of the images are high-dynamic-range(HDR) images.

I use a point and shoot camera, so I’m limited in the range and do not have access to raw images. But this is how i do it

Use autobracket

This takes 3 images. One with the default settings, two with respectively +/- 1 ev

Use a tripod and self-timer

This makes sure that the images are aligned in the best possible way.

Combine images

I use Qtpfsgui and i finally managed to compile and use hugins align_image_stack. Its necessary to align the images even though i use the tripod, as just a slight vibration will move the images a couple of pixels, and this results in fuzzy images. The align_image_stack is quite powerful, so handheld images is a possibility

Tonemap

I usually use the Mantiuk algorithm, but i tweak it so the colors become more vivid/surreal.